A muzzle flash on the back of her hand suggests Pte James was instead trying to fend off a rifle.

And the angle of bullet entry also inferred she was turning her head away when the shot was fired, said the investigator.

Mr Swann said it was not in his remit to say if Pte James and three other recruits were killed by others at the barracks between 1995 and March last year.

But his findings are bound to spark speculation the young soldier may have been murdered.

Mr Swann said: "All I can say is it is highly unlikely that Pte James shot herself. It is also statistically unusual for women to shoot themselves in the face. It hardly ever happens."

Pte James was one of four recruits who died of gunshot wounds at the barracks between June 1995 and March last year.

Her father Des James is devastated by the findings and has called for a public inquiry. He also claimed the findings of Mr Swann left Surrey Police with "egg on their faces."

Surrey Police dramatically postponed a planned briefing to disclose the findings of its year-long investigation after Mr Swann announced the conclusions of his inquiry.

Mr James, who now lives near Oswestry, said Mr Swann had not put forward a theory as to why his daughter had died.

He had only said he thought it was "highly unlikely" the bullet wound which killed her was self-inflicted.

"To be honest, that part of it is devastating," said Mr James.

"It has come as a bit of a shock to be honest. We did not expect it and we were not given any indication by Frank Swann that that was what he had found. It creates more questions than answers.

"I have never said that she was murdered. What we believed was that we did not know. We were told it was suicide. But it was never investigated properly.

"It was never proved that it was suicide and it was never proved it was any-thing else.

"That is why it must be the subject of a public inquiry. I would be happy to go along with that process."

Mr Swann, who was hired by the families of the recruits, said it was "highly unlikely" that many of the fatal bullets were fired by the soldiers themselves.

After studying Mr Swann's conclusions, Surrey Police admitted there were "differences" between his findings and those of other forensic experts.

The force had been expected to say it found no evidence of third party involvement in any of the deaths.

Mr James said whatever the experts eventually concluded about the gunshot wounds, he was confident the police investigation would uncover a "culture of bullying" at Deepcut which may explain his daughter's death.